Judge Rules in Favor of Trend Micro In Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Fortinet

15 May 2005

Trend Micro, Inc. ( TSE: 4704, NASDAQ: TMIC ), a global leader in antivirus and content security, has been informed that a U.S. International Trade Commission judge issued a decision in the company’s favor in the unfair import proceeding Trend Micro brought against Fortinet.

In his initial determination, the ITC judge determined that Fortinet’s FortiGate antivirus firewall appliance products infringe Trend Micro’s U.S. patent 5,623,600, covering server-based antivirus technology. As a result, the judge has recommended that the ITC issue an order prohibiting Fortinet from importing FortiGate products into the United States and a cease-and-desist order to stop Fortinet from infringing the patent in the United States.

"We have always been committed to protecting the company’s spirit of innovation and its intellectual property, and with the results of this case, we feel that we have achieved that goal," said Carolyn Bostick, Trend Micro's corporate vice president and general counsel. "We are very pleased by the judge’s decision."

The International Trade Commission instituted the investigation in June 2004. The patent, of which Trend Micro’s CEO Eva Chen is an inventor, was issued in 1997. The patent teaches how to scan email and Internet data transfers for viruses at gateways and servers — before the data arrives at a desktop computer.

Trend Micro, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, has been delivering gateway- and server-based solutions since 1996. Today the company is the leader in global market share for server-based antivirus solutions. The company has business units worldwide, and its products are sold through corporate and value-added resellers and managed service providers.

Source: i- Newswire

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